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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
noted in the decreased notification of tuberculosis, diphtheria and whooping cough, and an increased incidence of reported malaria and measles.
The enteric diseases, while continuing to remain a limited public health problem, showed little variation from the situa- tion in 1955, when there was evidence that this disease was coming under effective control. The incidence of the dysen- teries showed little change, but deaths ascribed to bacillary dysentery were considerably reduced from 37 in 1955 to 4 in 1956, the lowest figure for 10 years. Approximately 40 per cent of the cases of this type of dysentery occurred in infants and young children under 4 years of age, an incidence which is probably due most of all to the grossly overcrowded condi- tions under which the population live. Cases of cerebrospinal meningitis are surprisingly rare considering the common association of this disease with overcrowding, 21 cases being reported. Poliomyelitis, as notified, did not constitute any major problem, fewer cases being reported during the year under review than in the preceding year. Investigations carried out during the year on the antibody blood serology of the population appear to indicate that the majority of the local population have acquired immunity to this disease at a very early age. For the first year since the war no case of rabies, either animal or human, was reported. Immunization campaigns designed to increase protection against smallpox, typhoid and diphtheria were conducted at the appropriate seasons. These campaigns are widely publicized through the press and radio, and by loud speaker vans accompanied by mobile vaccination teams. It has been found that the loud speaker van is much the most effective method of immediate- ly attracting a good response from the population.
BIRTHS AND DEATHS
The birth rate again showed a rise above the figure for 1955, while the death rate continued to remain fairly station-